Ricciardo on notice

The F1 paddock is abuzz with talk of a Helmut Marko ultimatum to Daniel Ricciardo: Pick up his pace before Miami, or he will be replaced by Liam Lawson.

Ricciardo was earlier in the week talking up his prospects of remaining in the sport, but Auto Action, through multiple sources, indicates this will not happen without a lift in form. He is also believed to be completely out of the running for a return to the main Red Bull Racing team with or without Max Verstappen.

Ricciardo is 0-3 in qualifying to Yuki Tsunoda after three races this year after failing to exit Q1 in Melbourne.

He was on a sabbatical last year, but it was cut short after Nick De Vries was sacked from the then-Alpha Tauri after 10 races. He had a best-place finish of 12th at Monaco and a qualifying average of 17.00, the second-worst in the field.

The Australian ran only two races before breaking his hand in a crash at Zandvoort but returned for the season’s final five races with a best qualifying of fourth. Tsunoda out-qualified him in four of the seven races and had a similar advantage in the races.

Lawson has been floating around Albert Park in Visa Cash App RB F1 Team gear as a reserve driver to the team while also driving a Ford V8 Supercar in a demonstration run. Lawson subbed for Ricciardo during his spell on the sidelines and set a qualifying average of 14.2 compared with the more experienced Ricciardo on 14.0, but only out-qualified Tsunoda once in five races.

Exactly what performance is required is not clear, but beating Tsunoda would be a start.

Ricciardo remains one of the most popular drivers in the field (and is a personal favourite in the Auto Action office), especially in the USA, so F1 management will be hoping he rediscovers his mojo.

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